Neil Swidey pens book on Boston Harbor workers

Thursday

Feb 27, 2014 at 12:01 AM

People today may enjoy recreation on Boston Harbor. But a lot of them may not know the work involved and the sacrifices that were made by people who risked their lives to clean up what had been among the dirtiest urban harbors in the country.

George Austin

People today may enjoy recreation on Boston Harbor. But a lot of them may not know the work involved and the sacrifices that were made by people who risked their lives to clean up what had been among the dirtiest urban harbors in the country.

But if they read Neil Swidey's new book, "Trapped Under the Sea," they can gain an understanding of what workers went through to clean up the harbor.

"I'm always interested in how the world works," Mr. Swidey said. "That's what I feel is valuable as a journalist. You get to ask questions and find out what you didn't know."

"Trapped Under the Sea" follows five commercial divers as they go to a tunnel bored in bedrock hundreds of feet under the ocean floor to solve logistical problems that plagued the harbor cleanup for years. Mr. Swidey writes about how the divers raced to get out alive from a tunnel that did not have much oxygen, was pitch black and claustrophobic. In his new book, Swidey shows how infrastructure is built, but also writes about how no matter how modern technology is, it still falls on the regular workers that take risks to get such large projects done.

"The real-life characterizations of this story are just fascinating human beings who I wanted to learn more about and spend more time with to get deeper into the story," Mr. Swidey said.

Mr. Swidey spent five years researching the Boston Harbor cleanup and the story of the workers behind it. He said such extensive research was required in order to write the book for a general audience. He studied the leadership of the project, disaster management, oxygen issues and post traumatic stress disorder, which he said most people associate with combat veterans, but which some of the workers from the harbor cleanup experienced.

"I had to learn a lot before I could feel like I could tell the story in a completely accurate and understandable way," Mr. Swidey said.

Mr. Swidey is the author of "The Assist," a bestselling Boston Globe book that was named one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post. He is also the co-author of the New York Times bestselling "Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy." A staff writer for The Boston Globe Magazine, Mr. Swidey has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award and has twice won the Sigma Delta Chi Award from The Society of Professional Journalists. His work has been featured in The Best American Science Writing, The Best American Crime Writing and The Best American Political Writing. He is a professor at Tufts University and lives outside of Boston. Mr, Swidey, the son of Sam and Mary Swidey of Somerset, did some of his first bylined writing for The Spectator.

Mr. Swidey analyzed the roles of the commercial divers, "sand hogs" who dig tunnels, civil engineers and corporate litigation for "Trapped Under the Sea." He said he hopes the book will have an impact on the industries involved with the cleanup learning from their mistakes and making changes to protect their workers.

"One of the most interesting facets in this story is it shows how very smart people can make bad decisions and workers with hard hats can bail them out, so workers in a lot of fields can learn a lot from this story," Mr. Swidey said. "I certainly learned a lot myself."

"Trapped Under the Sea" was released on Feb. 18.

"The early reviews have been wonderful," Mr. Swidey said. "The fact that people are connecting with the story and the real life people in the story and caring about them is gratifying."

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